ID Request: Lulworth Skipper

[Willem]

Dear,

Could this be a Lulworth Skipper ( shot taken in August - Spanish Pyrenees - some paler dots are visible ).

http://www.pyrgus.com/species.php?speci ... anguage=UK

Thanks for advice.

[Padfield]

I would say it's definitely a Lulworth Skipper.

I find them not far from where you were, in the Val d'Aran, when I visit in August.

Guy

[P.J.Underwood]

Guy,
Sorry to trouble you,but I find it difficult to distinguish the difference between small skipper and lulworth skipper when out of area,such as on the continent.I would be very grateful for details of the finer points of their identifications.
P.J.U.

[Padfield]

Hi PJ. It's true that small skippers can sometimes be very dark and Lulworth skippers quite bright, so it's not always entirely obvious. A useful underside feature is the ground colour. In small skipper the hindwings and the apex of the forewings are overlaid with a grey-green colour, which contrasts with the colour of the discal area of the forewing. The contrast is typically less in Essex skipper, but that species also has some grey-green. In Lulworth skipper the underside is typically golden, often overlaid with dark scales but not usually the grey-green wash, and there is little contrast in the apical area of the forewing. I've been looking at the pictures on the species pages and I must admit that John Chapple's Lulworth skipper looks very like a small skipper to me - and if it's not, my rule of thumb clearly doesn't hold. But Willem's individuals are both classic Lulworth - really golden. Lulworth skippers often show paler grey veining against the gold, but then so do small skippers sometimes, in the right light.

If you can see the paler discal markings, as in Willem's first individual, which I take to be a female, then Lulworth is guaranteed - I've never seen this in small or Essex. His second individual is a male.

I hope that helps a little.

Guy

[P.J.Underwood]

Thanks,Guy,I will have to check all my old photo's now.It is obvious in the skippers from the Lulworth area,as they are greyish and dull.
P.J.U.

[P.J.Underwood]

Guy,I am posting these somewhat tongue in cheek.All were taken at Durleston Country Park,Dorset,bar one.Do you make them all Lulworths?
P.J.U.

No 1

No 2

No 3

No 4

No 5

[Padfield]

If this is a test, I think I'm about to fail it, because yes - they all look like Lulworth to me! I presume there is some doubt about one of them, not taken at Durleston ...

Guy

[P.J.Underwood]

Yes Guy,one was taken at La Brenne.It is just that there wasn't much gold about them.Perhaps it all depends on the light and mine were all taken when the weather was dull.
Thanks Guy,it is like my fungal tutorials with my neighbour Barry Hughes-you learn so much by asking questions.
P.J.U.

[essexbuzzard]

Hi P.J.U., numbers 1-4 are male Lulworths,5 is a female. Males are much darker,though variable. Females are,on average, larger,brighter,and with more obvious wing markings.

Hope this helps.

BW's,

EB.

Nice pics by the way...

[P.J.Underwood]

EB-I must start looking out for females!
P.J.

[Willem]

But Willem's individuals are both classic Lulworth - really golden

When I first saw these skippers, I immediately made this observation.. Thanks for pointing this out as a characteristic. It's a new insight to me.